Apparatus for and method of treating wire fabrics



Oct. 3, 1939. B. c. RILEY 2,175,066

APPARATUS FOR AND METHOD OF TREAIING WIRE FABRICS Filed May 11, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 the normal pattern of the fabric.

Patented Oct. 3, 1939 UNITED STATES APPARATUS FOR AND METHOD OF TREAT- ING WIRE FABRICS Bradford 0. Riley, Medfield, Mass.

Application May 11, 1938, Serial No. 207,224

16 Claims.

The present invention relates to the shaping of woven wire fabrics to change the size or shape of the mesh of the fabric or to give to the fabric a distinct ornamental design other than that of a standard woven fabric.

One of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide for the formation of an ornamental design on a wire fabric having a relatively open mesh by permanently distorting portions of certain strands of the fabric into a predetermined configuration other than that of By this invention it is possible to produce from a standarr woven wire fabric a plurality of distinct individual designs which add substantially to the appearance of the fabric. It will be obvious that the portions of the strands which are displaced or permanently distorted may form a geometric design or any other predetermined configuration controllable by proper construction of the apparatus embodying the invention.

*Other and further objects and advantages. of the invention will hereinafter more fully appear from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in

which Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view showing the apparatus embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the wire fabric to which a design has been given by the apparatus of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a portion of one of the forming rollers of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a portion of the roller of Fig. 1 which cooperates with the roller of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view along the line 5-5 of Fig. 5.

Fig, 7 is a plan View, on a larger scale than Fig. 2, of a section of fabric formed in accordance with the invention.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the different figures.

With reference to Fig. 1, a woven wire fabric W of any conventional form, from a loom I, diagrammatically represented, passes around a toothed roller 2 to assure a predetermined and uniform spacing of the wires of the fabric. From the roller 2 the wire is directed into grooves in a roller 3 which cooperates with an opposed roller 4 in forming the design in the wire fabric, as will be pointed out. A small diameter roll 5 aids in directing the wire fabric into the grooves inthe roller 3. After the wire has passed between the opposed rollers the wire is removed from the roller 3 by a small diameter roll 6 almost tangential to the roller 3. A second small roll I on the side of the roller 3 opposite to the small diameter roll 5 holds the wire fabric in the grooves in the roller 3 until it is removed therefrom by the roll 6.

Referring now to Fig. 2, which shows one type of wire fabric to which the invention may be applied, the fabric comes from the loom with warp and weft strands of wire 8 and 9, respectively, which are approximately uniformly spaced apart and which extend at right angles to each other. Obviously the fabric may be of any suitable type in which the warp strands are non-uniformly spaced, or in which the strands of the fabric all extend diagonally. The machine is adaptable to any woven wire fabric so long as the pattern of the fabric repeats itself so that the strands of the wire may cooperate with grooves on the roller 3 as will appear hereinafter.

As shown at the left of the line AA, the strands of the fabric are inevitably not exactly parallel or uniformly spaced as the fabric leaves the loom, and the purpose of the toothed roller 2 is to straighten and uniformly space the warp and weft strands, the result of the wire fabric passing over the roller 2 being shown in Fig. 2 immediately at the right of the line AA, this line representing the point where the fabric becomes tangential to the pronged roller.

As shown in Fig, 1, the teeth III on the roller 2 are relatively short and are pyramidal in form, being spaced apart to correspond to the spacing between the strands of the fabric so that the several strands of the fabric are alined and uniformly spaced apart as they pass over this roller. The dimensions of the base of each tooth correspond to the dimensions between adjacent wires of the fabric and the spacing between the teeth is substantially that of the diameter of the wire strands, as will be apparent.

With reference now to Figs. 3 and 4, the roller 3 over the greater portion of its surface has circumferential and axially extending grooves I I and I I which are spaced apart in accordance with the spacing of the strands of the fabric and which are wide enough and deep enough to receive the individual strands, both warp and left, of the fabric. In this manner the fabric is held against distortion except in predetermined areas, and any bending action on portions of the wire strands may take place in the selected areas without affecting the appearance of the portions of the fabric lying in the grooves II and II.

Over the areas of the roller 4 which cooperate with the parts of the roller 3 where the grooves II and II are located, the roller 4 is entirely smooth, as at 12, and engages the outer surface l3 of the roller 3, thereby retaining the fabric W in position during the forming action.

The roller 3 in predetermined areas in which the pattern is to be formed has recesses l4 therein which extend inwardly of the roller surface a greater amount than the grooves H and which are engaged by corresponding cogs, or prongs IS on the cooperating roller 4, these prongs and cooperating recesses making possible the bending of the wire into a predetermined pattern. Obviously each cog at the base thereof is smaller in dimension than the corresponding recess by an amount which will allow the Wire strands of the fabric to be located between the sides of the cog and the corresponding recess on all sides thereof. Each cog is pyramidal or conical in form and the outer end is small enough in area to enter within the opening between adjacent strands of the fabric. It will be understood that the arrangement of the recesses and cogs may be varied in accordance with the desired pattern, and that the shape of the cogs will control the shape and dimension of the resultant openings in the fabric after it has been subjected to the forming operation. The rollers 3 and 4 are geared together and simultaneously driven to assure a proper cooperation between the cogs and recesses.

Referring again to Fig. 3, the portions of the surface of the roller 3 between the recesses l4 are cut away only at the points is which are in line with, and are continuations of the grooves H and H, and these points are cut away only to a depth corresponding to the depth of the grooves II and II.

The effect upon a wire fabric of rolls having recesses and cogs thereon, as in Figs. 3 and 5, is shown in Fig. 2, at the right of the line B-B which represents the point where the fabric passes between the cooperating rollers 3 and 4. The same pattern is shown on a larger scale in Fig. 7. With reference to these figures, it will be noted that certain of the warp and weft strands are bent out of their normal straight line position at predetermined points as a result of the action of the cooperating rollers, the remainder of the wire fabric having been held against distortion by being positioned in the grooves H and II during the forming operation. It will be apparent that the cogs on the roller 4 project into the'openings I! in the fabric and thereby change the normal rectangular shape of these openings to the shape indicated. As above stated, the pattern of the fabric which can be produced by this forming action is variable, dependent upon the shape and arrangement of the cogs and cooperating recesses, provided that the desired shape is such that the wire can be bent and stretched beyond the elastic limit at the points of bending so that it will retain a permanent set and the position into which the cogs force the wire will be retained by the wire after the cogs have been removed therefrom.

Various modifications of the arrangement shown are possible, as for example, the cooperating rollers 3 and 4 may be replaced by cooperating flat die plates having corresponding grooves, recesses and cogs with the plates operating intermittently on the fabric as'it leaves the loom.

Referring again to Fig. 1, the grooved roller 3 is journalled in uprights l8, only one of which is shown, and the roller 4 is journalled in caps 19 mounted in the upper ends of the upright I8 and held in position by bolts 20. Small coil springs 2! hold the two rollers resiliently against each other so that if any of the wires of the fabric are misplaced, the roller 4 can raise sufficiently to avoid damage to either of the rollers by the misplaced wire.

Where the amount of bending action on the wires of the fabric effected by the roller 4 is to be changed so that the wires will not be strained to the full size of the bases of the cogs I5, the roller 4 is elevated from the roller 3 by placing shims 22 between the upright I8 and the cap l9 so that the cogs will enter only partially into the cooperating recesses 14 so that each of the wires of the fabric will be bent to a less extent than if the rollers were in engagement.

For driving the rollers in unison the projecting shafts 3' and 4' of the respective rollers have bevel gears 23 and 24 respectively, which mesh with cooperating gears 25 and 26. A driving shaft 21 is connected to the bevel gear 25 and projects therebeyond where it is splined by a sleeve 28 to a shaft 29 to which the bevel gear 26 is secured. By this means both the rollers may be rotated in unison, regardless of the thickness of the shim 22. Obviously the roller 2 may be connected to the same driving shaft 21 so that the several rollers may be rotated in timed relation.

In the particular structure shown in the drawings to indicate one specific pattern structure, it will be noted that the wire strands forming the fabric are held against movement at all of the wire intersections since the areas I6 hold each of the wires against movement at all of the intersections. Such a structure is not essential however, as it will be apparent that in forming certain patterns it may be desirable to permanently distort selective wires over a length greater than the spacing between adjacent wires forming the fabric.

I claim:

1. In the treatment of a wire fabric, the steps which involve holding the wires of the fabric against relative movement except in predetermined areas, and permanently bending, substantially in the plane of the fabric, .the wires in said areas into a predetermined pattern.

2. In the treatment of a wire fabric, the steps which involve holding the wires of the fabric against relative movement except in predetermined areas, and permanently bending, substantially in the plane of the fabric, each of the wires in said areas individually to form a predetermined pattern.

3. In the treatment of a wire fabric, the steps which involve holding the wires of the fabric against relative movement at their intersections, and bending, substantially in the plane of the fabric, certain of the wires in predetermined sections of the fabric to form a pattern.

4. In the treatment of a wire fabric, the steps which involve holding the wires of the fabric against relative movement except in predetermined areas, and permanently bending, substantially in the plane of the fabric, each of the wires in said areas individually to form a predetermined pattern by selectively offsetting the wires from their normal parallel relation to each other.

5. In wire fabric treating apparatus, means for holding the several wires of the fabric against relative movement except in certain areas, and

means for distorting the wires in said areas substantially in the plane of the fabric while said first means are operative.

6. In wire fabric treating apparatus, cooperating means for holding the wires of the fabric against relative movement and means for bending, substantially in the plane of the fabric, certain selected wires out of their normal position in predetermined areas while said first means are operative.

7. In wire fabric treating apparatus, a member having a plurality of intersecting grooves therein to receive the wires of a woven fabric, and means cooperating with said member for distorting certain of the wires out of their normal position in predetermined areas while the wire is positioned in said grooves.

8. In wire fabric treating apparatus, a member having a plurality of intersecting grooves therein to receive the wires of a woven fabric, said member having a plurality of recesses at least as deep as the grooves, and means engageable in said recesses for bending the Wires positioned in the recess out of their normal relation to the remainder of the fabric.

9. In wire fabric treating apparatus, a member having a plurality of intersecting grooves therein to receive the wires of a woven fabric, said member having a plurality of recesses at least as deep as the grooves, and a second member having protuberances thereon engageable in the recesses of said first member for bending the wires in said recesses out of their normal relation to the remainder of the fabric.

10. In wire fabric treating apparatus, cooperating rollers, one of which has intersecting grooves in the surface thereof to receive the wires of a woven fabric, said roller having recesses at least as deep as the grooves, and intersecting certain of said grooves, the other of said rollers having projections thereon for engagement in the recesses to bend the wires in the recesses out of their normal relation to the remainder of the fabric.

11. In wire fabric treating apparatus, cooperating rollers, one of which has intersecting grooves in the surface thereof to receive the wires of a Woven fabric, said roller having recesses at least as deep as the grooves, and intersecting certain of said grooves, the other of said rollers having projections thereon for engagement in the recesses to bend the wires in the recesses out of their normal relation to the remainder of the fabric, and means engageable with the fabric before it passes, between the cooperating rollers for alining the wires of the fabric so that they will engage in the grooves in the roller.

12. In wire fabric treating apparatus, cooperating rollers, one of which has intersecting grooves in the surface thereof to receive the wires of a woven fabric, said roller having recesses at least as deep as the grooves, and intersecting certain of said grooves, the other of said rollers having projections thereon for engagement in the recesses to bend the wires in the recesses out of their normal relation to the remainder of the fabric, and a toothed member engageable with the fabric before it passes between the cooperating rollers, the teeth on said member being spaced in accord ance with the spacing of the grooves on the grooved roller.

13. In the treatment of a wire fabric, the steps which involve holding the wires of the fabric against relative movement at their intersections, and permanently bending certain of the Wires of the fabric between the intersections to form a predetermined pattern.

14. In wire fabric treating apparatus, cooperating means for holding the wires of the fabric against movement at their intersections and means for bending certain of the wires between the intersections out of their normal position while said first means are operative.

15. In the treatment of a wire fabric having weft and warp wires, the steps which involve holding the wires of the fabric against relative movement at their intersections and permanently bending certain of both the warp and weft wires of the fabric between the intersections to form a predetermined pattern.

16. In wire fabric treating apparatus, means for holding the warp and weft wires of the fabric against movement at their intersections, and means for bending certain of both the warp and weft wires between the intersections out of their normal position while said first means are operative.

BRADFORD C. RILEY. 

